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Zinc Deficiency Aggravates Oxidative Stress Leading to Inflammation and Fibrosis in Lung of Mice

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Abstract

Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element for the body. Studies have confirmed that Zn deficiency can cause oxidative stress. The purpose of the present study was designed to investigate the effect of Zn on fibrosis in lung of mice and its mechanism. Mice were fed with different Zn levels dietary, then we found that the Zn-deficient diet induced a decrease of Zn level in lung tissue. The results also revealed the alveolar structure hyperemia and an inflammatory exudated in the alveolar cavity. Moreover, immunohistochemical results showed that the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) increased. And the Sirius red staining indicated an increase in collagen with Zn deficiency. Furthermore, oxygen radicals (ROS) levels were significantly increased, and the antioxidants were significantly decreased. Meanwhile, inflammatory factors (TNF-α and IL-1β) were remarkably increased, and the ELISA results showed that collagen I, III, and IV and fibronectin (FN) were increased. In addition, the expressions of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMPs) were detected by qPCR. The results showed that the expression of TIMPs was increased but the expression of MMPs was decreased. The results of the experiment in vitro were consistent with that in vivo. All the results indicated that Zn deficiency aggravated the oxidative stress response of lung tissue to induce inflammation, leading to fibrosis in lung.

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The data of this study will be made available on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, People’s Republic of China

    Qirui Zhang, Yao Xue, Yuxin Fu, Bowen Bao & Meng-yao Guo

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  1. Qirui Zhang
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  2. Yao Xue
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  3. Yuxin Fu
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  4. Bowen Bao
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  5. Meng-yao Guo
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Contributions

Meng-yao Guo and Qirui Zhang conceived and designed the experiments. Qirui Zhang, Yuxin Fu, and Bowen Bao carried out the experiments. Qirui Zhang and Yao Xue processed the data. Qirui Zhang and Meng-yao Guo wrote the paper. The final manuscript was read and approved by all authors.

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Correspondence to Meng-yao Guo.

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All the animal experiments involved in this paper have been approved by the Animal Research Ethics Committee of Northeast Agricultural University (NAUMO-2021–0119).

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Zhang, Q., Xue, Y., Fu, Y. et al. Zinc Deficiency Aggravates Oxidative Stress Leading to Inflammation and Fibrosis in Lung of Mice. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 4045–4057 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-03011-7

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